High population density, solid transportation systems and a strong educational infrastructure are the keys to prosperous cities, according to the Geography of Prosperity Index, which measures affluence in the nation’s 250 largest urban areas.
The New York City-Jersey City-Newark, New Jersey, metro is the most prosperous area in the country, based on data from federal agencies, academic research and proprietary resources, according to Geography of Prosperity. The index uses this data to evaluate metros across five categories:
- Population renewal: demographic capacity, including fertility trends and aging
- Climate resilience: how susceptible an area is to environmental changes and how prepared it is to respond to and recover from them
- Automation readiness: how prepared a region’s economy and workforce are for technological development, including AI
- Social cohesion: civic engagement and feelings of community
- Governance and foresight: local leadership and long-term planning
These categories are “the ones that we believed were the most pressing issues for the country right now,” Bradley Schurman, CEO of growth consultancy Human Change and a co-creator of the index, told Smart Cities Dive. “Yes, the jobs are important. Yes, the economics are important. But there’s all this other stuff that sits beneath the surface that you need to consider if your city is going to be healthy.”
The New York City-Newark metro earned a 95 out of 100 for social cohesion and an 82 for climate resilience. The region’s lowest score was a 40 for governance and foresight.
The Villages, a master-planned retirement community in Florida, scored the lowest overall, partly because it received a 2 for population renewal. About 85% of residents are 65 or older, according to Census Bureau data, putting them outside child-bearing age. The community is “reliant on people moving there,” Schurman said.
Schurman said more measures will be added to the index in the future. In 2027, it will also address affordability, and in 2028, it will study “freedoms” for people of color, women and the LGBTQ community, he said.
“We never intended for this [index] to be perfect because there is no perfect measure of a place,” he said. “This index is really like a compass. It points people in the direction of places that are really set up for success.”
The index’s top 10 most prosperous metro areas are:
1. New York City-Jersey City-Newark
2. Durham, North Carolina
3. Ann Arbor, Michigan
4. Boston
5. Seattle and Tacoma
6. Washington, D.C.-Arlington, Virginia
7. Frederick, Maryland
8. Raleigh, North Carolina
9. Albany-Schenectady, New York
10. San Francisco-Oakland
